Definitions Series
by arliddian
Summary: A series of short vignettes centred around a word, any word.
1. Exempt

**Exempt**

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Summary:** Is Vader completely exempt from everything?. 

**Timeframe:** Somewhere in the OT

**Archive:** In the unlikely event that someone would actually want to archive this – ask and I'll say yes. Just let me know where it's going.

**Disclaimer:** All things recognisably Star Wars belong to George Lucas. I just like making up my own stories. ALL HAIL LUCAS!

**A/N:** This is a fic that I wrote after selecting a word at random to write about. The word 'exempt' just kind of stuck in my head after a meeting, so I wrote about it. Please review! Exempt – to free or release from a duty, obligation, etc. Vader POV. More to come in this series.

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I know what they think. I am not deaf to the mutters in the corridors. I am strong in the Force, after all. 

My troops see me as a cold, calculating machine. Heartless. Blank. And to some extent, this is true. It's what I am. I am not a common man.

I heard one trooper mention that I am exempt from feeling emotion after I disposed of a Rebel traitor.

Exempt.

I like the sound of that word beside my name. Lord Vader is exempt. Set apart. Isolated. That is undeniably what I am, and what I have been since birth.

Lord Vader is exempt.

I am exempt from the limitations of the ancient Jedi Code, restrictions that I dispelled long ago. I was exempt from them even when I began my training – the rule of age had been broken for me. I set myself apart from the rule that forbade attachment. Yes, I am exempt from the rules.

But am I exempt from feeling?

Surely this is not so. I am still a man. I am more than a man – I am a Sith. I draw unimaginable power and strength from allowing my boiling emotions to course through me. Daily I feel the fires of rage and hatred burning within. I am not exempt from feeling those.

And though I will tell no one, I am not exempt from the burden of loss and loneliness. Deep within the recesses of my chambers, when the galaxy is silent and brooding, my mind fills with the pain and desolation of losing everything, everyone I had once loved. Their memories haunt my mind, and they do not excuse me until daylight burns again and my Master calls me to do his bidding.

The trooper was incorrect. I am exempt from many things, but I am not exempt from feeling emotion.

Not exempt at all.

_Fin_


	2. Inscrutable

**Inscrutable**

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Summary:** He always thought he was inscrutable… 

**Timeframe:** While Vader is taking Luke to the Emperor in ROTJ

**A/N:** This time I was reading and the word 'inscrutable' jumped out at me. Inscrutable – not able to be penetrated or understood. Vader POV. Please review!

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I always thought I was inscrutable. 

Safe behind my mask, safe inside the physical and mental armour I constructed, nobody could penetrate to the man I was inside. Nobody could understand who I was, why I was the way I was, or how I came to be Vader.

I was inscrutable.

Untouchable.

My mask not only hid the scars on my face, but the scars on my soul as well. I was impenetrable even to myself – I locked away the old memories, the old feelings, buried them deep until I could not break through to them. So nobody, not my Master, my soldiers or even I, really understood who I was.

I was inscrutable, untouchable, impenetrable, to everyone I knew and everyone I met.

Except for this young man.

My son.

As he stands impassively beside me now, hands bound, awaiting his fate, I find myself mulling over the words he spoke to me only minutes before.

With those simple sentences and a calm expression, Luke penetrated the armour of my mask and inner shields and pierced through to see the part of me I had locked away. I had been shaken, and it had taken all my strength and the power of Dark Side to remain composed and guarded. But the damage has been done.

I go to the Emperor now, and I will watch my son's fate, whatever it may be, as impervious as ever. But as long as my son lives it will be only a front - I will never be inscrutable, for he knows me.

He knows me.

_Fin_


	3. Candour

**Candour**

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Summary: **Anakin muses on his Master's – and his own – candour. (Or candor, if you are American.) 

**Timeframe:** Some time in the Clone Wars, after Anakin is married

**A/N: **Candour – the quality of being candid or honest. Anakin POV

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My Master, Obi-Wan, has a candour so pure it makes my head spin sometimes. It's a quality of his that drives me crazy, and yet is one that I completely admire. 

He is very honest and open in everything he does. He does not sugar-coat the truth, as many others do. He is always ready to tell me my exact mistakes. He hates to resort to lies and deception – for him, it must only be a last resort, when no alternative is available. My Master will seek for every last possibility before choosing deceit.

Recently, as I have matured, he has come to share his thoughts with me. He has often confided in me his fears for the Republic, his visions and his thoughts on the Order. And, except for the occasional lecture on politics, I appreciate this honesty.

"There are no secrets between us, Anakin," Obi-Wan said to me once. At the time, I forced a smile and a non-committal nod, because I do not have the same candour as my Master. I am living with lies, and I am creating a deception. I keep a secret from the Republic, the Order and my Master. I choose to deceive.

Now and then, Obi-Wan will ask me about my relationship with Padmé. Every time, I simply laugh and dismiss it, telling him that the two of us are just friends. Some days I am fine with keeping up the lies. Those are the days when I remember the consequences of my actions, and how much being a Jedi means to me.

But some days, I wish I could be honest with my Master. He is always honest with me – he deserves to know only truths from me. And he is more than just my Master – he is my friend. My brother.

I wish I had his candour.

_Fin_


	4. Enigma

**Enigma**

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Summary:** There is one thing that Obi-Wan will never understand…hints of SiriWan, although I forgot to mention her name. 

**Timeframe:** Er…I'm not sure. Sometime before Siri's death, I guess.

**A/N: **Enigma – a puzzle or a mystery. Obi-Wan POV

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The Force is an enigma. 

One can access it and tap into it, feel it and meditate on it, but it cannot be completely understood. Even Master Yoda cannot fathom all the mysteries of the Force, though he can understand it better than any other Jedi I know in the Order.

And just as the Force is an enigma, so too is love.

The puzzle of love is one on which I have meditated before, yet I have never come up with an answer – nor a question, for that matter.

There are so many facets of love- the love of a brother, the love of a friend…and that of a lover.

How can love be completely understood? I have been on countless missions, and have seen the best and worst of it.

I have seen how love can heal, yet can cause wounds.

I have seen how love can inspire, yet cause one to hesitate.

I have seen how love can empower, yet can hinder.

I have seen how love can reveal truth, yet can blind.

How can anyone ever completely understand such a paradoxical enigma?

Some claim to know it and understand it. Others claim it is impossible. Still others claim that one can only understand it when one experiences it.

I disagree with those people.

I have experienced love, but I do not – and will not – understand it. I feel deeply for a woman almost as deep a mystery as love or the Force themselves. The Order that, in a way, bound us together, also forces us apart, forcing our love to be tempered. How can something forbidden and secret and suppressed burn so fervently?

Love, to me, will always be an enigma.

As will she.

_Fin_


	5. Evanescent

**Evanescent**

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Summary:** Obi-Wan thinks about the evanescence of the Jedi. 

**Timeframe:** About half a year or so after the end of ROTS – Obi-Wan is on Tatooine.

**A/N:** Evanescent – passing away or vanishing. Evanesce – to disappear gradually. Obi-Wan POV. Felt a little sad when I wrote this - rightly so, because it's a sad topic...

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Once, just months ago, the Jedi Order was alive and flourishing. 

We were advocates of peace, keepers of justice, and we protected the Republic and the galaxy. We were respected and feared, welcomed and rejected. The Force bound us together with all things, and we daily sought to further our knowledge of and in it.

But it all changed when my friend – my _brother_ – betrayed us.

The Temple was destroyed, along with too many Jedi. Younglings, older Masters and fellow Knights all fell to the blade of Anakin's lightsaber and became one with the Force. And as they died, so too did our way of life.

Exiled on Tatooine, I have felt more of my colleagues and friends pass away into the Force. It is a slice of their pain that I experience, a moment that leaves me breathless and clutching whatever furniture is in my sparselyfurnished hovel. But these feelings now come so rarely, with so much time in between, that I know that soon Master Yoda and I will be the last of the Jedi. The last of an Order that had once stood for more years than I care to count. And as the Jedi evanesce, the galaxy's knowledge of them and the Force does too. The Jedi will live only as pale memories in stories told to young children, most of the details twisted or omitted as the years wear on.

We are no longer the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy. We are no longer free to study the ways of the Force or live the way we used to. We have been forced to become fugitives, hiding or running from the Empire, but we cannot hide forever. The time will come when we will all be found, all be revealed. But until then, we slowly disappear, vanishing to the Force.

The Jedi are now evanescent.

_Fin_


	6. Judicious

**Judicious**

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Summary:** Mara Jade ponders Luke. Little hint of LukeMara. 

**Timeframe:** I have no idea. I'm sure you'll figure it out.

**A/N:** Judicious – sensible or discreet. Luke POV. I've never tried to write Mara Jade before, and I don't know that much about the specifics of her character. So I apologise for any OOC-ness – please let me know if it's not completely in line with her character!

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He's so…judicious. 

Sensible. Discreet.

Judicious.

Skywalker is unlike any other man I've ever met. Most men I have had contact with have been easy to understand. Easy to manipulate. Easy to eliminate. I could spend an hour with some men and figure out their weaknesses. Usually less than that, in fact. Certainly, I have met a few who were proficient liars – a little more complicated. But in the end, they were all the same.

Except for Skywalker.

He's so complicated and simple at the same time. He exudes strength and confidence, and he is remarkably perceptive. Yet at the same time he can be too trusting, too naïve. He is a sensible man, always preferring a simple or peaceful approach. He is so different to me.

I use stealth, disguise, deception – any means possible to achieve my ends. I am practical. Aggressive. My aggressiveness comes from my years of training under the Emperor, and it is both a weakness and a strength – as much as Skywalker's sensibility is both a weakness and a strength.

We can learn from each other. Luke may be a little too judicious – but there is still time for me to teach him to let go.

_Fin_


	7. Oasis

**Oasis**

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Summary:** Leia finds her oasis in the midst of war. 

**Timeframe:** A few weeks or months after ANH, before ESB.

**A/N:** Oasis – a haven of peace amidst turmoil. Leia POV. I've only got one stashed in Documents after this one - but whenever I come across a new word, I'll try another fic for this series :)

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Life as part of the Rebel Alliance has never been an easy one. We must constantly beon our guard, always prepared to run and hide from the Empire. At any time, our lives could be snuffed out. It is a difficult and stressful life, but I choose it because, eventually, it will result in true peace. 

But everything changed when Alderaan was destroyed.

Despite the Alliance's amazing victory over the Imperial Death Star, since that day, everything to do with this war reminds me of Alderaan.

My home and my family – along with thousands of good, innocent people – were totally obliterated. My parents, my friends, my people, my _everything_ has gone. Now the turmoil not only rages around me, but inside me as well. Anything to do with the Empire reminds me of my home, and so I can rarely find peace.

Except when I'm with Captain Solo.

Certainly, we bicker almost constantly. Sometimes we have decent conversations, but then he will ruin it with some inappropriate comment, and we will end with an argument. But it is this kind of unpredictable stability that is my oasis. His refreshing lack of military polish and cocky charm is exactly the kind of distraction I need from the memories of Alderaan and its destruction.

Although he does not know it, Han is my little haven of peace amidst the war. Seems like a paradox, doesn't it? Han being peaceful? I'm sure he has never been peaceful in his life – even as a child, he must have been rough and obnoxious.

But it is not him who I find soothing – at least, not exactly. It is his reliably disruptive nature that helps me cope. When I am around him, there are no thoughts of my parents or my planet in my head. I am not left in a desert of sad memories.

Han Solo is my oasis.

_Fin_


	8. Supernova

**Supernova**

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Summary:** In death, some stars shine brighter than anything. 

**Timeframe:** After ROTJ

**A/N:** I just realised that Supernova is the name of the pop culture convention that will soon be in my town. That's rather funny. Supernova – a star that explodes, outshining even an entire galaxy, before fading. Dodgy science definition, but I had to make it fit, hehe. Luke POV. This is unfortunately the last of these that I had stored up, but this series WILL be continued as soon as I find myself time to write! Reviews are appreciated :)

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When I was growing up on Tatooine, I used to talk to the deep space pilots. 

I remember one telling me that sometimes, when a star dies, it explodes, flinging dust and gas outwards from its core. He told me that for that dying moment, it shines brighter than anything in the galaxy.

I always liked that thought – that in death, there was still amazing beauty and light. I was young and naïve then, but now – older, wiser – I still believe in it.

As my father lay dying, I saw with the Force. I saw the darkness in him fly away, fly out from him and fade into the air. The shadow that cloaked him split apart, and the true nature of his heart shone through.

As he lay dying, my father emitted light into the Force, brighter than either of the two suns of Tatooine, brighter than the glow of Coruscant. The light of the Force that surrounded him shone so clearly, so brightly, so dazzling that my eyes were almost blinded…or perhaps it was my tears.

I never truly knew my father. I never knew the kind of man he was. I never discovered his ambitions, his motivations or his faults. But as he died, I saw him as nobody now remembers him.

Clean.

Bright.

As he died, he shone. And on the funeral pyre I built for him, he faded – but some element of his star remained. I saw it watching the celebrations, watching over us.

My father's death was a supernova.

_Fin_


	9. Supercilious

**Supercilious**

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Summary:** Leia's words affect Han a little more than she realises… 

**Timeframe:** Before Hoth?

**Archive:** In the unlikely event that someone would actually want to archive this – ask and I'll say yes. Just let me know where it's going.

**Disclaimer:** All things recognisably Star Wars belong to George Lucas. I just like making up my own stories. ALL HAIL LUCAS!

**A/N:** Long time no update! Supercilious – disdainful or contemptuous (I took it as arrogant, which is another of its synonyms). This may be a little OOC – never tried to write Han before, so please let me know where I've gone wrong!

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She called me supercilious. 

That's right – Her Worshipfulness herself! She's got a nerve, calling me names like that.

Not that I knew what it meant at first. I must've looked confused or something, because she laughed a bit and said, "It means arrogant, Han."

I couldn't just lie down and take it, so I made out like I knew, and I called her a few things myself. I think I said 'prissy', 'stuck up' and 'self-righteous'.

I dunno, I think I went too far, because she looked kind of shocked and clammed up. Went all formal and stalked off.

She sure is pretty when she's mad.

Okay, so I don't admit it when I'm wrong, and I've got my pride. But what about her? She won't admit when _she's_ wrong. She's the proudest woman I ever met, and I've seen my fair share of women. She's too proud to admit how she feels.

Oh yeah, I know she feels something for me. I've seen her blush and stumble over her words when I smile at her or call her sweetheart. And it might be kinda _supercilious_ for me to say it, but I can tell she likes me. I know it.

But man, she's got a mouth on her! Can't stop snapping at me. 'Course, it is really soft and pretty-looking. It's hard for a guy not to get distracted when she's yelling with a mouth like that.

Maybe I should ask for a goodbye kiss when I leave. If she says no, then we'll see who's _really_ supercilious.

Ha!

_Fin_


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